1 Year. No Alcohol

Last week something cool happened. I hit 1 year without alcohol.

I posted it on instagram and dozens of people reached out and congratulated me on “sobriety.” It felt weird being congratulated for this because spoiler alert… I’ll be drinking for the first time in 13 months in 25 days. I’ll explain why in the end.

This time last year I went to Mexico City for Formula 1 to celebrate my good friend’s birthday. While in CMDX I consumed copious amounts of mezcal, tequila, and wine. But down there, unlike in the US, I felt significantly less shitty after drinking. 💃🏾

That was the last weekend I drank before I decided it was time to go cold turkey. Many of you hit me up as I’ve been posting updates about my break from alcohol asking “how to do it.” So I am going to tell the story (one last time) about why I did it and why I plan to not stay dry the for the rest of my life. Contrary to what I was telling myself.

Why I Stopped Drinking:

First of all, I never had a problem. I was a light drinker for 2 years leading up to October 2024. It gradually lost interest in drinking over those two years prior. Which was coincidentally around the time I tried mushrooms. Most of my friends thought I didn’t drink in the first place. I was able to say no when I didn’t want alcohol, and I was able to still have fun socially without it.

What I didn’t like about drinking was how I felt after. The following 2-3 days I’d be groggy, anxious, and wouldn’t sleep well. You might call me a little bitch for that, I get it, but that’s how my body worked. I was also single at that time, so the easiest way to go on a first date was to “grab a drink.” The problem with that is you fall for the trap of thinking you like someone just because you’re a little buzzed.

I started facing a weekly dilemma. When was the right time to have 1-2 drinks (or 7) and feel like crap the following 2-3 days, and when was the right time to hold off and delete 15 sparkling waters. Birthdays, weddings, “special” first dates, getting free $400 bottles of wine? There wasn’t a right answer.

On the flight back from Mexico, I decided that was it, it was time to take a break. No trauma nor some great mistake that was made. Just the decision that I wanted to stop having to constantly think about making the go/no-go drinking decision.

The first 3 Months:

Months 0-3 were the hardest part, when I had to get adjusted to not drinking. In this window people would ask “why not tonight?” It was only after consistently denying them that they slowed down on the peer pressure. I still got into situations where someone thinks its fun to keep pushing me, but most of my friend were supportive and it wasn’t an issue. The easiest way to get used to it was having the identify shift from saying “I’m not drinking” to “I don’t drink.” Once you trick your brain (and others) into a new identity, it becomes a lot easier to say no.

It took some learning and many ChatGPT brainstorms to come up with first dates that weren’t a drink. My health-maxing friends would say that a coffee at 7pm on a Thursday is a bad idea. I would agree, and so would the potential first date.

It turns out that you can still go to bars and not drink, but I had the dilemma where an non-alcoholic cocktail was basically just a fancy $15 bubbly juice (ya know, bc diabetes). So my options were limited to buying a sparkling water or a small bite. (This also applied to “catch ups,” not just dates).

Once I hit the 3 month mark. I could noticeably tell I was consistently sleeping better (until I upped my caffeine consumption), I was less anxious (also until I upped my caffeine consumption), and found it easier to stay lean.

6-12 Months

Once I got in the groove of socializing without alcohol, I started noticing all the opportunities for new types of interactions and activities that I would normally I would default to drinking for. I had significantly more ideas for ways to have fun that didn’t just revolve around drinking. I would list them but that would double the length of this post…

I started surrounding myself with people who don't see drinking as a crutch, but rather just a social activity. Right around this time, I became comfortable hanging out with people that do drink vs. hanging out with people that drink as a hobby. I no longer had to choose between being social vs being sober.

The other two noticeable benefits were that it is extremely easy to stay lean (I’m currently at 14% body fat, not to brag) and I save a shit ton of money. Eating out became less of a burden and I was still able to split the bill with friends by eating 25% more than them at a 4-6 person dinner so I wouldn’t complain about covering their drinks.

What’s Next

As I hit the tail end of the 12 months, I started to realize how much I wanted to hit the one year milestone. I didn’t even realize I was coming up on a year. I started to forget how long it has been.

As plans came up, I started to ask myself if I needed to go without alcohol for the rest of my life. I thought to myself, "Do I need to be sober indefinitely?" I never had an issue, I just didn't like the way I felt after.

I decided to go back to Mexico City for Thanksgiving, and tag on Oaxaca as part of the trip. If you don't know, Oaxaca is known for being the birthplace of mezcal. So I asked myself, "Is this something I should drink for?"

I decided the answer was: yes, I was going to enjoy mezcal while I was abroad in Oaxaca. But I am going to go back to continuing to drink when I get back to the United States? In my head, I used to think it had to be binary: either I was drinking or I was sober. The more I progress, the more I learn that I can still choose not to drink because I don't want to, but understand that there are times where I can enjoy something and live a little.

I decided that when I'm home in my normal routine I will not be drinking. But when I go to places like Italy, Mexico, or Japan where I can have the best wine in the world, the best tequila in the world, or the best sake in the world, it's okay to let loose and live a little.

I aspire to live life “my way” and that means trying different things see what an ideal life for me looks like. I loved not drinking. I’m going to stick with that.

I don’t want it to be an “identity,” it feels excessive and unnecessary. I’m still going to tell people I don’t drink, but I wont be posting any public trackers of how long its been since the last one.

If you made it this far I want you to know, I get how hard it is to take a “break.” You CAN do it if you want to. And just because you did, doesn’t mean you have to stay that way forever. I did it my way, you can do it your way.

You can balance things without being binary.

You’re Awesome,

Jared

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Things Worth Clicking

A few gems I found on the internet this week - no digging required

• Taken from Scott Galloway’s newsletter about GLP-1’s. Showing the uncanny relationship between obesity rates and food and beverage company performance.

  

• Captain Hormozi on how to make money. Too many 22 year old kids in SF think they need to be the next Elon Musk to make up for them being bullied in high school. When really all you need to do is just this. ✍🏻✍🏻

  

• A story from Sam Parr on why body language is so important. In my opinion, when it comes to…. everything.

I Dig So You Don’t Have To

P.S. - I’m DJing at a club this Friday for the Vently Launch Party. Come see me play the IDs I’ve been dropping in here.

1 Set:

2 IDs: